Beginner lokoing at DSLR

[The Gooner]

Hi
Im looking for my first DSLR but am not sure of body or lense to suit my needs.
I have been looking at the Canon 450 and the Olympus 520. Not sure which is the better body though.
Lense wise my requirements would be for normal every day shooting of the family and general surroundings, I would also like a zoom or telephoto lense for airshows, motorsports, wildlife ect.

ANy help is much apreciated.
Goons

[dazza74]

You'll have more lens options available to you if you get the Canon I feel.

Lens wise I'd say for family and general shooting the kit lens would suffice inititally, for motorsports and airshows etc I reckon your best bet would be to buy a 70-300mm lens

[DarkEntity]

Depends what you want, if you want an all singing all dancing camera then look at the Nikon D80, i you want a middle of the road camera look at the Eos400 or Eos450.

also depends on budget, the Canons are cheaper but you do get more for your buck out of the Nikons.

id suggest going and trying them all and then pick the one you like better.

[mikim]

Originally Posted by DarkEntity

id suggest going and trying them all and then pick the one you like better.

Agreed, go to a decent camera shop (not Jessops), and have a good look at the options within budget.

We have T4Cameras here in Newbury, and I will almost always buy from them because they know what they are talking about, and wont try to sell you the most expensive item on the shelf. Good service goes along way

I just picked up a S/H D80 boxed (with shop warrantee)and new 2GB card for £350.

[Yandros]

I'll be honest - I'm not a big fan of Olympus.

Assuming you're looking at entry level, your shortlist should certainly include:

Canon 1000D/450D
Nikon D40/D60
Sony A200 upwards
Pentax K200

For lenses, get the kit lens, and a 70-300mm zoom. For wildlife and airshows you can spend a fortune to get huge zooms (eg 500mm) but I'm assuming £600+ is beyond your budget for now.

What sort of budget are you looking at?

[NatD]

If you are going away in the next few weeks, you can pick the 450D up for £375 including the £50 Cashback from Canon!

I am a Noob as well, and this is my weapon of choice!

[The Gooner]

Hi thanks for replys.

I am looking at entry levels as it is only a hobby which I wish to develop, so not bothered about spending fortunes, The 450 does look the most tempting at the moment.
How easy are the Canons to operate ie menus ect compared to the Nikons?

I have been using an Olympus 570 compact with 20 optical zoom, although this gives reasonable results just looking to take the next step into better photography, but after having the ability to shoot at distance I would like to continue, hence the question about lense.

Are there as many options lense wise for the Nikon as the Canon,
I have also seen the 1.4 and 2 converters, does this literally mean that if I purchased a 70-300 lense I would get 140-600, would the shot be any good using this.

Once again thanks for help, I am new but wanting to learn
Goons

[Yandros]

Originally Posted by The Gooner

Hi thanks for replys.

I am looking at entry levels as it is only a hobby which I wish to develop, so not bothered about spending fortunes, The 450 does look the most tempting at the moment.
How easy are the Canons to operate ie menus ect compared to the Nikons?

I have been using an Olympus 570 compact with 20 optical zoom, although this gives reasonable results just looking to take the next step into better photography, but after having the ability to shoot at distance I would like to continue, hence the question about lense.

Are there as many options lense wise for the Nikon as the Canon,
I have also seen the 1.4 and 2 converters, does this literally mean that if I purchased a 70-300 lense I would get 140-600, would the shot be any good using this.

Once again thanks for help, I am new but wanting to learn
Goons

There's very little to choose between most models for ease of use actually, so I wouldn't worry about that.

In terms of feature set, you get more for your money with Sony and Pentax, as they offer in-body image stabilisation, whereas Nikon/Canon put the stabilisation in the lenses (so you pay a premium per lens).

Teleconverters (x1.4, x1.7, x2) generally don't work well (or at all) with entry level zooms. Because you lose light when you use them, they are normally used with more expensive f4 and f2.8 lenses.

[The Gooner]

how do the sony and pentax cameras compare to the canon and nikon, can they produce similar quality photos.

[stevegreen]

Originally Posted by The Gooner

how do the sony and pentax cameras compare to the canon and nikon, can they produce similar quality photos.

Yes they can, unless of course you zoom in to 1000% and pixel peep (but that is pointless). Buying a DSLR is about buying into a brand or lens system. If you buy a Canon then you will have to buy Canon fit lenses, Nikon, Nikon fit lenses so on and so forth.

There are third party lens manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron and Tokina which make lenses to fill all popular systems just to confuse the issue but generally speaking the best quality lenses are made by the brand manufacturer. Take this into consideration when purchasing your camera as more than likely you will be wanting extra lenses in the future.

[mjw123]

To be honest as a beginner you really don't need anything more than the D40 - the rest is marketing hype.

I've been taking pics for 25years and I certainly don't feel restricted in the slightest by the D40.....the results it produces are staggering and with current cashback offers can be had for just over £200 which is plainly stupid.

A lot of far better photographers far better that me or you will ever be are still waxing lyrical about the D40.

Save yourself a few quid by going for the D40 and putting the money saved to additional lenses like the 55-200VR and a decent external flash like the SB400 - you could get this whole bundle for the price of the 450D